Matthew 28:8-15
Chapter 28
He Appears to the Women
Suddenly, Jesus met them on the road and said:
Rejoice!”
The women approached him, bowed down at his feet, and worshiped him.
Then Jesus said to them:
Do not be afraid! Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Report of the Guards
As the women continued on their way, some of the guards entered the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had taken place.
The chief priests gathered with the elders and decided to pay the soldiers a large sum of money
with this instruction:
“Say that his disciples came by night while you were asleep and stole the body of Jesus.
If Pilate finds out about this, we will explain the situation and keep you out of trouble.”
The soldiers took the money and did as they were told. This story has circulated among the Jews to this day.
Commentaries
Resurrection of Jesus – He Appears to the Women – Report of the Guards.
While the three synoptic gospels follow similar paths in the passion story, they differ noticeably in their resurrection accounts. None of them attempts to describe the exact moment or manner of the resurrection, as it goes beyond sensory experience. Instead, they affirm the event confidently and support it with various accounts. The main elements of these stories include identifying the apparition with the historical Jesus, His physicality, His specific appearance, His interaction with the disciples, and the personalities of the witnesses. For Christians, the resurrection is the cornerstone of faith. Paul states that if Christ has not been raised, then our faith is meaningless (1 Cor 15:14,17).